2011 Speakers

Speakers EAS 2011

Warwick, Ri.

Vincent Aloyo was introduced to beekeeping by Prof. Roger Morse and has kept bees in New York, Tennessee, Kentucky and Pennsylvania, as well as in The Netherlands, and has served as an apiary inspector in both Tennessee and Pennsylvania. Currently, he teaches an undergraduate beekeeping course at Delaware Valley College in Doylestown, PA, as well as continuing education beekeeping courses at Delaware Valley College and Temple University.

Dr. Paul T. Arnold is a Professor of Biology and the Director of the Predatory Beetle Lab at Young Harris College. He is currently serving as the Dean of Mathematics & Science. He is a graduate of Huntington University where he earned degrees in Biology and Wildlife Management. He earned his Ph.D. in Botany from Miami University in Oxford, OH. He came to Young Harris College in 1987 and has taught courses in Beekeeping, Biology, Botany, Dendrology, Evolution, Invertebrate Zoology, Ecology and Microbiology. He is also one of the co-founders of the Young Harris Beekeeping Institute which just experienced its 20th year of instructing beekeepers at both the beginner and advanced level, and he is one of the administrators of the Georgia Master Beekeeping Program. Dr. Arnold's primary professional interests include plant/insect interactions, especially as they pertain to the southern Appalachian flora. He has been analyzing pollen in honey samples for nearly 20 years, and also currently leads a biopredatory beetle program to help eradicate the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid. He is also, of course, an avid beekeeper.

Cindy Bee - Cindy was the first female Master beekeeper in Georgia. She spent 14 years as the only full time bee removal specialist in Georgia. She has co-written a book on bee removal which is available through the A.I. Root Company. Presently she works for the University of Georgia’s honeybee lab and is heading up a project involving 200 hives for research. She has a Master’s degree in Professional Writing and is currently working on an MFA in creative writing.

Jennifer Berryis the apicultural research coordinator and lab manager at the University of Georgia honey bee lab. She is actively involved in all aspects of honey bee research and education. Her research emphasis has been a queen breeding program and incorporating IPM for mite and beetle control. Besides her day job, Jennifer runs a side business selling queens and nucs. She is also a regular columnist for Bee Culture magazine and travels extensively to speak to local, state, national and international beekeeping associations. In 2006 she was the Eastern Apicultural Society president and hosted a very successful meeting in Young Harris, Georgia.

Will Blodgett Beekeeper since 1976, Master Beekeeper since 1999. Raises his own queens, nucs and splits. Maintains an apiary of 25 hives on an 11 acre farm.

Billy Davis is an EAS Master Beekeeper, recipient of Virginia’s Langstroth Award for Excellence, and currently the EAS Director from Virginia. He is now working to develop a regional Queen Project, Virginia based and sanctioned by the Loudoun Beekeepers Association and the Virginia Beekeepers Association. Sixteen years ago Billy developed "Practical Beekeeping for Beginners", a formal nine week class, which now starts over 600 new beekeepers a year in Northern Virginia.

Dan Conlon started Warm Colors Apiary in South Deerfield, Massachusetts in 2000. Before entering the world of full-time beekeeping, Bonita was on the faculty of the University of Massachusetts, and Dan was a department head and faculty member at a private boarding school for twenty three years. Bonita and Dan produce and sell regional honeys, beeswax products and provide pollination services to local farms. Dan has taught introductory and advanced beekeeping workshops to hundreds of beekeepers. Since 2000 the popular Warm Colors "Beginning in Beekeeping" course has introduced 350+ new beekeepers to honey bee management. Dan raises Queens, sells package bees and nucs, and is a dealer of equipment and supplies for Brushy Mountain, Mann Lake, and Humble Abodes. Warm Colors provides a full-range of beekeeper services focused on improving beekeeping with a minimal use of chemicals interventions.

Carol Cottrill is a backyard beekeeper from Maine, enjoys teaching new beekeepers and speaking about the importance of honey bees to anyone who will listen

Kim Flottum is the Editor of Bee Culture magazine, author of the best selling book The Backyard Beekeeper, and a new work entitled The Honey Handbook, Producing Varietal and Artisan Honey. He is a regular contributor to the Beekeeper’s Quarterly, several regional and national farm magazines and web pages. He is Chairman Emeritus of EAS and is the President of EAS for 2009.

Maryann Frazier - received her B. S. in Agriculture Education from Penn State University in 1980. In 1983 she completed a Masters of Agriculture in Entomology, specializing in apiculture. She has worked as the assistant state apiary inspector in Maryland and for two years as a beekeeping specialist in Africa and Central America. For the past 20 years she has held the position of Senior Extension Associate in the Department of Entomology at Penn State and is responsible for honey bee extension throughout the state and cooperatively across the Mid-Atlantic region. She is a member of the CDD working team and is working collaboratively with other members of PSU Department of Entomology on the impacts of pesticides on honey bees and other pollinators. She teaches courses in beekeeping, general entomology and teacher education and is involved in the department’s innovative public outreach program.

Mike Goblirsch - is a graduate student of the Department of Entomology at the University of Minnesota. His research focuses on understanding the role of the fungal pathogen, Nosema ceranae, in honey bee health. He is particularly interested in pathogen-mediated effects to bee physiology caused by this emerging pathogen. He also enjoys working with and especially learning from beekeepers.

Christi Heintz is Executive Director for Project Apis m. (PAm), a non-profit organization specializing in funding project-driven, practical research for the benefit of beekeepers and pollinated crops. She also manages pollination research for the Almond Board. Christi has been involved in conducting research, including pollination research, for the almond industry since 1979. Since 2006, she has focused her efforts solely on pollination research because of the importance of honey bees to the agricultural industry. Christi holds B.S. and M.S. degrees from UC Davis.

Don Hopkins started with bees in NJ as a youngster before moving to NC as apiary inspector. He has been active with Partners of Americas in beekeeping development in Haiti and Bolivia as well as Kazcistan. He is active with Short courses and workshops and helped train new NC beekeepers with the Golden Leaf Project (funds from tobacco settlement used to establish new beekeepers).

Jennifer Keller is the Apiculture Technician extraordinaire at NC State University. Her multiple responsibilities include coordinating all of the field research in the Apiculture program (including queen rearing and instrumental inseminations), maintaining the Lake Wheeler Honey Bee Research Facility south of NC State’s main campus, and conducting numerous extension activities all across the state.

Joe Kovaleski has been keeping bees for 18 years. This all started out as a Boy Scout Beekeeping Merit Badge project with his younger son and two hives. Joe teaches beekeeping to boy scouts, girl scouts and 4H. He also does presentations for schools, garden clubs, and other beekeeping organizations.

Joe is an EAS Master Beekeeper, West Virginia Master Beekeeper, Certified Ohio State Beekeeper, EAS director for Ohio, VP of Tri-County Beekeepers Inc., Sec/Treasurer of the Jefferson County Beekeepers Assoc., and Ohio State 2008 Beekeeper of the Year.

Joe, along with his wife Suzan, produce beeswax candles and honey for sale at many fairs and festivals, and have won many best of show and blue ribbons in honey and molded wax contests. Joe is currently the Crossroads Region coordinator for the Ohio State Beekeepers Assoc. Queen rearing project, and also a member of the West Virginia Queen Producers Assoc., raising queens in the northern panhandle.

Ray Lackey grew up with grandfathers on both sides who kept bees on their western Pennsylvania farms. He received a Master Beekeeper Certification from Eastern Apiculture Society in 1995. He has served four non-consecutive terms as president of the Long Island Beekeepers Club and terms as Director for New York’s Empire State Honey Producers’ Association, Director for Eastern Apiculture Society, and President of the EAS Master Beekeepers. Ray has a small sideliner business producing and selling honey and candles and providing pollination for pumpkins and other crops. Ray has written articles published in both Bee Culture and American Bee Journal. He teaches novice and advanced beekeeping classes on Long Island. He has been operating chemical free for over five years and raises about 100 queens per year in trying to develop resistance to diseases and pests in Long Island bees.

Jessica Lawrence is a Research Scientist for Eurofins Agroscience Services in Mebane, North Carolina. She received her B.S. in Botany and M.S. in Entomology from North Carolina State University. She is currently the head beekeeper for Eurofins Agroscience Americas and acts as Study Director or Principal Investigator on all honey bee-related studies in the US. Jessica also co-owns Checkmate Apiaries, Natural Borne Photography, and Piedmont Realty.

Marina Marchese is a true renaissance woman: an entrepreneur, an author, a designer, a beekeeper, a honey sommelier and an advocate for purity in products. She is the visionary behind Red Bee ® Artisanal Honey and Rossape sustainable skin care. A former career as an international designer, led Marina to China where she was introduced to the healing way of the honeybee. Compelled, Marina returned to launch a revolutionary collection of limited harvest honeys based upon unique nectar sources and the purest sustainable skin care products that would change the course of her life. Marina is certified by the American Apitherapy Society, has trained as a Honey Judge at the University of Georgia and serves on the board of the Back Yard Beekeepers Association in CT. When not tending her Italian honeybees, Marina eats, dreams, talks and writes about artisanal honey.

John Miller - owns and operates Miller Honey Farms, Inc., with operations in Blackfoot, ID., Newcastle, CA., and Gackle, ND. The company operates about 11,000 hives; some years a few more, some years much less.

Miller has served in various industry roles; including terms as Chair, National Honey Board, and state and local beekeeping organizations. He serves on the local economic development corporation in Gackle, ND. He is currently also President of the Mountain Mandarin Growers Assn., of Newcastle, CA. He is the Managing General Partner of Two Drones, LLC; and President of En-R-G Foods, LLC., of Steamboat Springs, CO.

Recently, the North Dakota Legislature approved legislation to fund bee research totaling over $100,000.00. With assistance from Legislative Counsel, John wrote the bill. It passed with near-unanimous consent.

In May, Harper-Collins published The Beekeepers Lament, by Hannah Nordhaus. The book chronicles the experiences of modern commercial beekeeping. Miller is the subject of these experiences large and small.

Erin MacGregor-Forbes is an EAS certified Master Beekeeper.· Erin manages approximately 100 colonies in Portland, Maine and surrounding areas as a sideline beekeeper.· Erin is the current President of the Maine State Beekeepers Association and is a SARE grant recipient for 2009 and 2010.· Erin teaches Beginner and Intermediate bee school in Maine and also leads hands on workshops foucsing on Sustainable Northern Beekeeping and Creating and Wintering Northern Raised Nucleus Hives.·· Erin has been raising queens and selling Maine raised overwintered nucs since 2008.

Buddy Marterre is Past President of the Forsyth County Beekeepers Association, Past Vice President and current Membership Secretary of the NCSBA.· He has taught bee school to almost 500 students over the last 7 years in his county.· He enjoys nature photography, biking, and operating on cancer when he's not with his bees.

Jeff McGuire - I made Rhode Island my home after graduating from the University of Rhode Island in 1986 with a degree in Chemistry.· I was fortunate to get a job with the Warwick Fire Department and am currently a lieutenant in my 22nd year as a firefighter.· I became interested in beekeeping while visiting a county fair on vacation and saw an observation hive at the local association booth.·· Like many beekeepers, I started with a couple of hives and ended up with more honey and bees than I knew what to do with.· I now have a small family business with my wife and two daughters selling honey at local farmer’s markets and doing some pollination as well.· I was mentored in beekeeping by some wonderful people was honored· by them by being elected the new president of the Rhode Island Beekeepers Association.· I enjoy mentoring new beekeepers and want to give everyone the chance to discover the enjoyment that I have found in beekeeping.·

David Mendes operates 7000+ hives for crop pollination and honey production. With a home base in Fort Myers Florida, he brings bees to Maine for blueberry pollination and Massachusetts for cranberry pollination each summer, and now to California for almond pollination in the winter. In the Spring and Fall the bees make honey in Florida. Dave has been a full time commercial beekeeper since 1977. He is currently the President of the American Beekeeping Federation.

Elina Lastro Niño received her B.S. in Animal Science from Cornell University (2003) and her M.S. in Entomology from North Carolina State University (2006), currently she is a PhD candidate in the Department of Entomology at The Pennsylvania State University working under the guidance of Dr. Christina Grozinger.· Elina’s dissertation research involves behavioral, physiological, and molecular characterization of factors affecting honey bee queen post-mating changes and queen-worker interactions. She is particularly interested in understanding the underlying molecular pathways regulating these changes and whether these changes are evident after the queen commences oviposition.· She also studies factors that alter queen pheromone profiles and how this in turn regulates worker behavior (e.g., retinue response, supersedure attempts) and physiology (e.g., juvenile hormone levels, pheromone production) which could affect colony success.Elina is also very involved with outreach and extension; she has organized dozens of outreaches to local schools and currently she is currently involved in developing a PA Queen Rearing Workshop.· In 2008, Elina was a recipient of one of six scholarships from the Foundation for the Preservation of Honey Bees (American Beekeeping Federation).

Dan O'Hanlon has been a beekeeper & queen producer in West Virginia for 23 years. He is an officer in his local bee club and is the founder of the West Virginia Queen Producers., an organization dedicated to supporting local queen producers. Dan led the effort to pass the first bill in the nation granting beekeepers immunity from civil liability. Dan was recently selected as the 2011 Beekeeper of the Year by the WV Beekeepers Association.

Mike Palmer - has been keeping bees in the northern Champlain valley for nearly forty years, producing quality extracted and cut comb honey. In an attempt to create a sustainable apiary, he raises queens and nucleus colonies that thrive in his northern climate. He believes that by producing local stocks of bees from colonies that are productive, healthy, and have the ability to withstand the long Vermont winters will we be able to lead our bees out of the dead end they have fallen into. He shares his knowledge, expertise, and management plan with many beekeepers around the country, both online and at state and local beekeeper's meetings.

Randy Oliver owns and operates a small commercial beekeeping enterprise in the foothills of Grass Valley in Northern California. He manages about 500+ colonies for migratory pollination, and produces queens, nucs, and honey. He has 40 years of practical beekeeping experience, plus holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Biological Sciences. Randy researches, analyzes, and digests beekeeping information from all over the world in order to not only broaden his own depth of understanding and knowledge, but to develop practical solutions to many of today's beekeeping problems, which he then shares with other beekeepers through his various articles in bee magazines, his speaking engagements worldwide, and on his website: www.ScientificBeekeeping.com

Dr. Jeff S. Pettis, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, MD. As research leader of the USDA-ARS Bee Research Laboratory in Beltsville, Jeff Pettis leads a team effort to improve colony health by limiting the impact of pests and diseases on honey bee colonies. His research areas include; IPM techniques to reduce the impacts of parasitic mites and disease, effects of pesticides and pathogens on queen health and longevity, host-parasite relationships and bee behavior. Additionally, he serves as the lead coordinator for a new 5-year ARS Areawide program to improve colony health. Dr. Pettis received an undergraduate and MS degree from the University of Georgia and his doctoral degree in Entomology from Texas A&M University in 1992.

Richard (Dick) Rogers - is a professional entomologist with 35+ years experience in apiculture and tree fruit entomology. ·He has been keeping and studying honey bees since 1973.· He started his entomology career as a consultant to the Nova Scotia tree fruit industry.· Later he served as extension entomologist / apiculturist for the Nova Scotia government.· Dick returned to the private sector in 2000 as a contract researcher.· His work included local, regional and international projects related to orchard and vegetable crops entomology, consulting on house fly outbreaks, insect identification services, hive inspection and honey bee pest and disease diagnostic services, biopesticide research, and bee health investigations and research.· His bee health investigations have taken him from Newfoundland to SW Arizona, all of Maritime Canada and coast-to-coast in the US.

Dick is now an entomologist/apiologist with Bayer CropScience in Research Triangle Park, NC.· His role at BCS is to plan and coordinate bee studies, continue honey bee health investigations and research, contribute to finding solutions to bee health issues, and to be an internal and external resource on pollination and apiculture.

Diana Sammataro, co-author of the Beekeeper’s Handbook (now in its 4th edition) began keeping bees in 1972 in Litchfield CT, setting up a package colony in her maternal grandfather’s old bee hive equipment. From then on, she decided that her B.S. in Landscape Architecture (Un. of Michigan, Ann Arbor), would not be a career, but that honey bees would. After a year of independent studies on floral pollination (Michigan State Un. Bee Lab, East Lansing), she earned an M.S. in Urban Forestry (Un. Michigan, Ann Arbor). In 1978 she joined Peace Corps and taught beekeeping in the Philippines for 3 years. On returning, she worked at the USDA Bee Lab in Madison, WI under Dr. Eric Erickson, studying the effects of plant breeding and flower attraction of bees in sunflower lines. When the lab closed, she eventually went to work at the A.I. Root Company as Bee Supply Sales Manager in Medina OH. In 1991 she was accepted at the Rothenbuhler Honey Bee Lab at The Ohio State University (Columbus, OH) to study for a Ph.D. under Drs. Brian Smith and Glen Needham. In 1995, she worked as a post-doctoral assistant at the Ohio State Un. Ag. Research Center in Wooster OH, with Dr. James Tew and in 1998 at the Penn State University Bee lab (State College, PA, with Maryann Frazier and Dr. Nancy Ostiguy. Early in 2002, she was invited to join the USDA-ARS Carl Hayden Honey Bee Research Center in Tucson AZ. Her current position is a Research Entomologist with Dr. Gloria DeGrandi-Hoffman and staff. Her work at the lab includes research on bee nutrition problems, Varroa, beneficial microflora of bees and current pollination problems.

Landi Simone owns Gooserock Farm in northern New Jersey and raises “Jersey Girl” hygienic queens. She manages about a hundred colonies, and in addition to small scale queen rearing and nucleus colony production, creates a variety of honey products and beeswax cosmetics and soaps for sale.

David Tarpy is an Associate Professor of Entomology and the Extension Apiculturist at North Carolina State University since 2003, after receiving a BS from Hobart College, an MS from Bucknell University (advisor: David Fletcher), a Ph.D. from the University of California at Davis (advisor: Rob Page), and a postdoctoral fellowship at Cornell University (advisor: Tom Seeley). As Extension Apiculturist, he coordinates the NC Master Beekeeper Program with over 5,600 active participants, maintains an apiculture web site dedicated to the dissemination of information and understanding of honey bees and their management, and spearheads numerous extension projects such as the 2005 New Beekeeper Cost-sharing program that created hundreds of new beekeepers within the state. His research interests focus on the biology and behavior of honey bee queens—using techniques including field manipulations, behavioral observation, instrumental insemination, and molecular genetics—in order to better improve the overall health of queens and their colonies. Specific research projects include understanding the effect of the polyandrous mating strategy of queen bees on colony disease resistance, determining the underlying factors of Colony Collapse Disorder, using molecular methods to determine the genetic structure within honey bee colonies, and the determining the regulation of reproduction at the individual and colony levels. His work has provided some of the best empirical evidence that multiple mating by queens confers multiple and significant benefits to colonies through increased genetic diversity of their nestmates, particularly through increased tolerance to numerous diseases. More recently, his lab group has focused on the reproductive potential of commercially produced queens, testing their genetic diversity and mating success in an effort to improve queen quality.

Dr. James E. Tew is the State Extension Beekeeping Specialist within The Ohio State University’s Department of Entomology. Since 1978, Dr. Tew has taught classes, provided extension services, and conducted applied research on honey bees and honey bee behavior - specifically pollination behavior. Additionally, he writes monthly articles for national beekeeping publications and has written two books: Beekeeping Principles and Backyard Beekeeping. Dr. Tew is a frequent speaker at state meetings and has traveled nationally and internationally to observe beekeeping techniques and offer suggestions. Currently, Dr. Tew conducts a regionalized cooperative extension beekeeping project with Auburn University and manages selected Alabama honey bee extension projects.

Barry Thompson began keeping bees as a teenager in Tennessee and has kept bees in Indiana, Mississippi, Texas, and Germany. Coming to Maryland more than a decade ago, he established a company providing pollination services to orchards and pick-your-own farms in Montgomery County. Certified as an EAS Master Beekeeper in 1996, he has served as EAS Director for Maryland and is the immediate Past-Director, Master Beekeepers. Having failed retirement, his volunteer activities as a scientist at the Bee Research Lab at Beltsville have been curtailed by his acceptance in 2008 of the position of Medical Director, American College of Medical Genetics, Bethesda.

Bill Turnbull is an award-winning journalist and longtime co-host of BBC Breakfast, the UK’s most-watched morning TV show. Bill stumbled into beekeeping when a swarm of honey bees landed in his backyard. Stung on the head, twice, at his very first hands-on beekeeping class, Bill quickly learned that there can be no adventure without a little risk. Bill was a freelance journalist in New York for five years, and joined BBC Radio’s Today program in 1986, then moved to Breakfast Time in 1988, before becoming a correspondent for BBC News. There, he has reported from over 30 countries including the US, and was BBC Washington Correspondent from 1994 – 1998. He is the UK’s leading ambassador for beekeeping, and is involved with many public events with the British Beekeepers' Association. He is the President of the Institute of Northern Ireland Beekeepers, and is also Patron of the Bees for Development Trust, a charity that supports beekeepers in developing countries. He ran a marathon in a beesuit once, auctions his honey for incredible prices, has Danced with the Stars and is involved with all manner of ways to raise the public’s awareness of bees and beekeeping, and to raise funds for charitable organizations working with bees. Bill will be at our Author signing table (see the schedule when you arrive at EAS), will be doing a workshop on his experiences in The Bad Beekeeper’s Club, and will be our Banquet speaker on Friday night. You don’t want to miss Bill, and his wonderful wife Sesi, at the Conference, and come listen to the Charter member in the Bad Beekeeper’s Club tell all at our banquet.

Kenneth Warchol is a sixth generation beekeeper going back to 1845 in Poland. Ken grew up in Northbridge,Massachusetts and was taught the secrets of the beehive by his dad. After graduating from college in 1972,he became a teacher at Northbridge High School in Massachusetts and taught there for 35 years before retiring last year. Ken has worked as an apiary inspector for the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources during the summers months from 1977 until the present time. He has been a member of the Worcester County Beekeepers Association since 1950. He has served as their bee school director for 5 years,the vice president for two years and as the WCBA President from 1985-1987. He currently serves as their program director. In l987 he was selected as the WCBA Beekeeper of the Year and in l988 he became the Massachusetts beekeeper of the year. Ken started the Massachusetts Honey Queen program and the Beekeeper of the year program. Ken does open hive presentations for the annual Massachusetts field day at the University of Massachusetts and teaches at 3 of the county bee schools on "Recognizing Abnormalities in the Beehive" He also has developed the rules and runs the Annual state bee smoker contest. He has spoken to hundreds of bee clubs,garden clubs,womens clubs, and colleges on the topic of honeybees. Since 2009,Ken has been working on a bee rersearch project uner the direction of Dr, Jeff Pettis and graduate student Jody Johnson to see the effects on honeybees from tree injection to control the Asian Longhorn beetle in Worcester,Massachusetts. Ken runs 40 colonies for the USDA project. He is also working with Dr. Chensheng Lu of Harvard University on a research project to see the effects of pesticides on honeybees. In addition,he runs his own colonies. It is safe to say that he has switched from working with students in the classroom to bees in the field.!

Jeremy Wagnitz received his Masters degree in July 2009 under the supervision of Dr. Marion Ellis at the University Of Nebraska-Lincoln. The focus of his Masters degree was on using oxalic acid as a treatment against Varroa destructor and its effect on the reproductive members of the colony. He has since taken a position as a Research Technician for Dr. Tom Rinderer at the USDA-ARS Honey Bee lab in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He recently applied for a PhD position in the Entomology Department at Louisiana State University under the supervision of Dr. Tom Rinderer and Dr. Lanie Bourgeois.

Kent Williams began keeping bees in 1989 and queens and nucs in 1995. He stopped chemical use in all colonies in 1997. Twice selected as KY Beekeeper of the Year, He is former President of EAS and KY State Beekeepers. Kent keeps around 400 colonies in three States